PEORIA — The loss of two young teachers will hurt a science department that has experienced a 60 to 86 percent turnover rate in the last four years, a veteran Manual Academy science teacher told Peoria School District 150 board members Monday as she pleaded for their jobs.

The teacher, Lori Ettinger, said her four years of experience makes her a veteran at Manual. But the two teachers have become part of a hard-working team that has seen improvements in overall student achievement in science, in spite of drawbacks such as a long-term substitute teaching a physics class.

“These are two people I don’t want to lose,” Ettinger said, adding the teachers could easily get hired in another school district.

Board members sympathized with Ettinger’s requests and added their own frustrations about making tough personnel decisions. But they voted to lay off almost 200 employees, most of them full- or part-time teachers.

Tough decisions and questions were the theme of the board meeting.

Interim comptroller Dave Kinney announced Peoria Stadium will continue to serve as home field for Peoria High, Manual and Notre Dame High School football games next season.

Superintendent Grenita Lathan asked board members if they wanted to continue paying for armed police officers in the high schools and at what cost. The district entered into an agreement with the city of Peoria for four officers for $179,378.

The two teachers Ettinger advocated for were among 66 teachers honorably dismissed for economic reasons. Some or all of them could be recalled, depending on the district’s finances, state funding, and work-force needs.

“We love our jobs and we want you to put a name to the face,” one of the Manual teachers, Belinda Dailey, told the board. “We understand what you have to do, but at the same time, we really want to be here.”

Most of the dismissals were a result of the annual reduction-in-force, or RIF, process, caused by state law that requires school districts to give teachers 45 days notice.

Already facing an estimated $6 million budget deficit and declining property tax revenues, the district could be in line for $3 million to $10 million more in funding cuts, depending on state funding levels, according to Kinney.

“This will have an impact on instruction, we have to be very honest about that,” Lathan said.

Board member Debbie Wolfmeyer told Lathan she would like to see armed officers in the high schools, but the agreement for Peoria officers was “way too expensive.” Wolfmeyer asked Lathan to explore options with other police departments that might be less expensive.

Page 2 of 2 - Board members approved continuing two contract agreements with Peoria Federation of Teachers Local 780 that allow teachers at Woodruff and Trewyn to begin working earlier in the school year and receive a $2,500 stipend.